Previous Judges

The Gulf Sustainability and CSR Awards 2018

were scored by Category Judging Panels comprising up to 5 of the Judges shown below.

Anas Almarie

Director

Anas Almarie

DirectorSocial Media Solutions

Anas Almarie is the Director of Social Media Solutions & Training specialising in government and corporates at UAE-based Social Station - an official LinkedIn partner. As an executive and founding member of the Arab Social & Digital Media Council since 2016, he also Co-hosts the weekly live show #HRMEChat in affiliation with SHRM - MEA.

Additionlly Almarie was awarded by Dubai Internet City in 2015 for the best app award in the smart city app hackathon. He is also the founder of MENA Social Media Awards, Almarie currently judge’s and acts as chair across 6 regional & international awards: International Business Excellence Awards, Gulf Customer Experience Awards, Gulf Real Estate Awards, Gulf Digital Expereince Awards, Gulf Employee Experience Awards, and Gulf Sustainability & CSR Awards.

Currently Almarie is a TV guest, author and keynote speaker across Asia, Middle East and Africa, and an adjunt faculty at SP Jain Global Managment School and a former lecturer at the University of Sharjah – Engineering School. He is also an active member at Social Media Club and Toastmasters International.

Thomas Bosse

Head of ProgrammesDubai Carbon

Mr. Bosse, Head of Programmes at Dubai Carbon, manages the company’s business in the fields of energy, sustainability, green economy, and climate change. He has more than 10 years of international working experience as project/program manager and team leader in various areas of energy, environment, sustainability, green economy, and climate change. His primary focus areas are renewable/conventional energies, biomass and waste to energy, energy efficiency, and the demand side of energy.

Dr. Pablo Izquierdo

Senior Technical Manager

Dr. Pablo Izquierdo

Senior Technical Manager Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence

Dr. Pablo Izquierdo has an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) on Environmental Technologies from the University of Surrey in UK. He also holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree on Applied Energy from Cranfield University in the UK. Pablo also has an Industrial Engineering degree from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Spain.

Currently Dr. Pablo is the Senior Technical Manager in Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence (DCCE) where he provides technical support, management and expertise on sustainability. His particulars areas of expertise are energy and waste management in buildings, Green House Gases (GHG) accounting, energy auditing and management and LEED certifications.

Amer Zureikat

CEO & Co-Founder

Amer Zureikat

CEO & Co-Founder Hitz General Trading

Amer has over 20 years of diverse work experience across multi-national and regional companies. Amer has held leading positions at Merck Sharp & Dohme, Bayt.com, Altibbi.com and others in the MENA Markets. One of Amer’s many passions is mentoring and advising start-ups and entrepreneurs in the region. He sits on the advisory board of multiple new ventures and dedicates much of his spare time and energy in assisting these local and regional start-ups to grow.

Fahad Khalaf

CEO

Fahad Khalaf

CEOTanmyah Consultancies and Training

HR Professional with over 15 years of experience with a proven track in many sectors in UAE. Extensive experience in working in Human Resources and demonstrated strong leadership, ownership and responsibility in achieving objectives. He has Developed, managed and supervised the Emiratisation, also have developed policies and directed and coordinated human resources activities, such as Recruitment, HR Business Partner, Training and Development. He believes in keeping employee engagement and motivating them to always keep the best practices to the organization.

Brijesh Dhruve

Chief Environment Officer

Brijesh Dhruve

Brijesh Dhruve has Chemical Engineering degree with an MBA in Environment Management & PG Diploma in Sustainable Development. He is certified Energy Auditor from Government of India with other credentials like Lead Auditor in ISO 14001 & ISO 9001.

Currently, Brijesh is the Group Chief Environment Officer with Emirates National Oil Company Limited (ENOC) LLC where he provides expertise on Environment Management to diversified business. Main areas of his expertise are developing Environmental strategies, reviewing EIAs, Site Environmental Audits, etc.

Mohammad Shadi Hamwi

CEO - Chief Architect

Mohammad Shadi Hamwi

CEO - Chief Architect First Art Engineering Consultancy

Mohammad Shadi Hamwi is the CEO and Chief Architect for a UAE based Engineering Consultancy firm. Over the last 20 years, he managed long list of reputed projects from Design to Execution. His company’s designs were approved by HH Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoom and few other Rulers and VIP’s as well as Mega Developers in UAE. Architect Mohammad Shadi Hamwi is an expert in Real Estate Developments and Facility Management and has great skills in connecting developer’s vision with market demand to deliver feasible projects at the satisfactory level of Design Uniqueness, functionality and Build-ability He also gives great attention to construction management to deliver his projects at the desired quality on time on budget. He is an arbitrator by experience, a previous lecturer and Instructor in some Universities, a moderator in reputed events and a guest speaker in many National and International prestigious conferences.

Sveccha Kumar

Manager, Corporate Sustainability

Sveccha Kumar

Manager, Corporate Sustainabilitydu

Sveccha is has over 8 years of experience in various sustainability related roles across global and regional organisations.

In her current role, Sveccha is responsible for the delivery of du’s overall sustainability programme, including strategic advisory to stakeholders, delivery of key community engagement initiatives and handling the company’s sustainability communications and advocacy portfolio.

Outside of work, Sveccha is very involved in volunteer work, including serving on the Board of e7 - Daughters of the Emirates, a women’s empowerment initiative based in the UAE.

Amruta Kshemkalyani

Sustainability Consultant, Eco-Educator & Founder

Amruta Kshemkalyani

Sustainability Consultant, Eco-Educator & FounderSustainability Tribe

Amruta is a top sustainability evangelist and certified sustainability consultant in UAE. She has over 12 years diverse experience with focus on sustainable development projects (including LEED and Estidama) in UAE and Middle-East. She has developed sustainability policies and departments in organizations. She also helps organizations to develop and reach their corporate sustainability goals and communication. Since past 8 years she has been raising awareness in society through her website, www.sustainabilitytribe.com , which is a pioneering sustainable lifestyle guide in Middle-East. She is also a pioneer of Zero-Waste movement in UAE and a zero-waste consultant. As an Eco-Educator, she facilitates workshops on sustainable living.

Alex Malouf

Corporate communications manager for the Arabian Peninsula

Alex Malouf

Alex Malouf is a marketing communications executive who has spent the last 14 years in the Middle East. He holds the position of corporate communications manager for the Arabian Peninsula at Procter & Gamble. His remit includes supporting the organization on regional sustainability initiatives, both environmental and social.

Sanjay Sethi

Director-Sustainability at Phoenix

Sanjay Sethi

Director-Sustainability at PhoenixPhoenix

Mr. Sanjay Sethi is a global sustainability and impact investment leader developing and managing large commercial farms, agri infrastructure, and making the businesses more sustainable.

Mr. Sethi is a trusted advisor to various governments, corporations and investment funds with expertise recognized with awards including “The Africa Food Prize 2013”.

Mr. Sanjay Sethi undertook many infrastructure projects like setting up India’s first Mega Food Park and India’s first Free Trade Warehousing Zone. He conceived and implemented food security projects in Africa business and managed an impact fund for Africa.

Zaira Lakhpatwala

Managing Editor

Zaira Lakhpatwala

Managing EditorMediaquest

Zaira Lakhpatwala is a communications professional with experience in advertising, media and publishing. She is currently the Managing Editor of Communicate and contributes to other titles under the parent company, Mediaquest, such as Gulf Marketing Review (GMR) and AMEInfo. Her previous experience has seen her come up with ideas and then translate those ideas into words through strategy and content for clients such as P&G, Kiehl’s, Unilever, American Garden, and Landmark Group in India and UAE.

Rasha Shafea

Deputy General Manager

Rasha Shafea

Deputy General ManagerFood Banking Regional Network

Coming up with eight years of experience in humanitarian sector in addition to PhD studies in the field of sustainable development, therefore educational and professional backgrounds qualifies me to judge entries for NGO category

Lina Yahya

Head of Service ExcellenceRAKBANK

Having over 17 years of experience across various functions within the Banking and Technology industry, having a background in strategy, sales, product development, process enhancements and service excellence - my skills include utilizing data from diverse channels, both internally and externally, to build and assist in improvement of organizational decision making capabilities, resulting in improved customer experience and an relevant impact in increased profitability or enhanced performance.

Mohammad Jebreel

Senior Advisor Sustainability and Social Investment

Mohammad Jebreel

Senior Advisor Sustainability and Social InvestmentSustainable Square

Mohammad is among the top Arab Sustainability Professionals with wide client portfolio in the GCC and the Arab region in more than seven sectors. He developed and co-authored about 40 Sustainability reports using the GRI, UNGC, IPIECA and other frameworks and guidelines.

He focuses on building the sustainability business case and regularly conducts top management engagement, develops strategies, and consistently supports organizational sustainability teams to identify and rapidly achieve performance gains.

Mohammad is the Chair of the GRI Standards Arabic Review Committee.

Ayman Jaber

Founder & Executive Creative Director

Ayman Jaber

Founder & Executive Creative DirectorINTEGR8 Agency

Ayman has spent his career on both sides of the industry as a Creative & Digital strategist as well as a Marketing Director. He has worked across Dubai, Chicago, and Washington D.C accumulating a portfolio that includes Sony, Philips, Infiniti, Nissan, Huawei, Caterpillar, and the Majid Al Futtaim Malls. As a keen researcher, Ayman has published several articles in industry publications, presented his research at international conferences, and mentored numerous Palestinian start-ups. In 2017, he launched INTEGR8, a data-driven, creatively-charged advertising agency. Ayman was recently shortlisted for the "Youth Leadership" category at the SME awards for his CSR initiatives spanning multiple industries and areas of focus.

Naveed Kashif

Director Government Relations

Naveed Kashif

Director Government RelationsBiznet Consulting

Kashif is a dynamic, results-driven leader with years of progressive experience leveraging management consulting skills with legal acumen to drive business growth, protect assets and, assure legal compliance. He is currently working as Director Government Relations with Biznet Consulting developing strong network with Government departments and representing clients, their cases and, real estate projects to obtain exceptions, approvals and no objections from major Government departments in Dubai.

His is also an active Council Member of GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group) and successfully incorporated many local and MNC’s in UAE. His expertise and knowledge includes; structuring of legal entities and help foreign companies to setup branches and investment companies in UAE.

Ismail Al Hammadi

Managing Director

Ismail Al Hammadi

Managing Director Al Ruwad Real Estate

Ismail Al Hammadi is an expert real estate professional. He is founder and Managing Director of Al Ruwad Real Estate and Biznet Consulting. Before starting his journey as an entrepreneur, he served as Executive director (Business Development) in TECOM, Sales Director in TECOM investments, Manager Government Relations in Dubai Industrial City and Senior Coordinator in Department of Economic Development Dubai.

His versatile experience enables him to provide appropriate consultancy to real estate investors and streamlined solutions for startups. The entrepreneur and resourcefulness in Mr. Hammadi helps organization to create profitable changes through unconventional and futuristic thinking using nimble and advance technology cutting down unwanted time constraints and road blocks. His venture and synergy till date have complimented hundreds of campaigns, non-profits, legal boards and brands.

Abdul Hai Alami

Associate Professor

Abdul Hai Alami

Associate ProfessorUniversity of Sharjah

Currently an Associate Professor at the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering Program at University of Sharjah, Dr Alami has received his PhD from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada in 2006. He research interests include the synthesis and characterization of mesoporous materials for third generation photovoltaic solar cells, solar thermal energy utilization and augmentation (selective solar absorbers, evaporative cooling of PV modules) and novel ways of mechanical energy storage (buoyancy force, superconductor synthesis and deposition as well as compressed air).

Salah Al-Hidiq

Managing Director

Salah Al-Hidiq

Managing DirectorNOCC

Serial Entrepreneur and Tech-Geek at heart with more than 16 years of professional experience.Founder and Managing Director of NOCC, a systems integrator and network security solutions company; Co-founder and Partner in WebMisc., a Digital Marketing Agency; Co-Founder of HeyDoc! a global and award winning healthcare revolution as the Middle East's first telemedicine platform that connects patients with Doctors via in-app advisory.

Slim Saidi

Associate Professor

Slim Saidi

Associate ProfessorRochester Institute of Technology

Dr Slim Saidi is prominent figure in the world of Quality, Innovation, Strategy and Awards; He carries an extensive experience in Industry and Consulting having occupied multiple senior positions in organizations such as CN Rail ZAIN, Tunisia Telecom and was Partner of major consultancies (Arthur D. Little and KPMG)

Dr Saidi was involved with over 20 awards as assessor, Judge, Coach and mentor. He is Associate Professor with RIT in Dubai and was previously MQM Director at the UOWD; he also launched and directed the Master of Quality and B/E in ADSM.

Loubna Haddad

Enviroment and Sustainability Consultant

Loubna Haddad

Enviroment and Sustainability Consultant

Loubna Al Haddad is a member of the Royal Society of Biology with extensive experience in Sustainable Development, Natural Resource Management, Environmental Impact Assessment, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Compliance & Policy.

Loubna is a Registered EMS Lead Auditor (IRCA), and has led and participated in remarkable projects on greenhouse gas emission reduction and Green Business practices implementation. She has designed and coordinated environmental awareness-raising events across employees and stakeholders, and delivered with her experience successful Behaviour Modification Campaigns.

Issa Baluch

Chairman

Issa Baluch

Issa Baluch is a 40-year logistics veteran, author, and philanthropist. He serves as Chairman of African Agribusiness Knowledge and Innovation Leadership Initiative (AKILI), a non-profit research and training initiative based in Cambridge, Massachusetts designed to inspire and empower African agribusiness professionals to apply global best practices in agribusiness, conservation, and economic development, into workable, achievable steps toward social, environmental and economic sustainability. Baluch is a Member of the Dean’s Council , Senior Fellow and Associate of Science, Technology, and Globalization at Harvard Kennedy School.

Elham Paripour

Advisor

Elham Paripour

AdvisorThe Expert Associates

A seasoned professional, recognized for facilitation and training skills. In the past year Elham has delivered many workshops and course on agile thinking and management in multiple setting in different countries. A professional speaker, Ms Paripour masters the art and science of contributing to others’ lives and career through coaching them in their leadership journey. She uses tools like Lego Serious Play and use it to animate workshops for both individual, team and organizational skills.

Elham Paripour is also involved in Assessing companies on the basis of international standards such as the EFQM and Taqdeer Awards and SKEA. With a unique blend of liberal arts and Management in my MBA, Ms Paripour has analyzed in her thesis the effect of customer-centricity on organizational behavior in the banking sector.

Declan McCrohan

Associate Professor

Declan McCrohan

Associate ProfessorMODUL University Dubai

Dr. Declan McCrohan, an Australian national, has over a decade of experience working in the field of Academia throughout Asia and the Middle East. Dr. McCrohan’s research interests cover a wide range of areas including financial modelling of Middle Eastern stock markets, entrepreneurship drivers in the Middle East and the development of international education offshore programmes, with particular focus on Australian Tertiary Institutions’ expansion into Asia and the MENA Region. Dr. McCrohan was also the team leader of the 2009 UAE GEM Study into Entrepreneurship in the UAE.

Dr Edith M Szivas

Professor

Dr Edith M Szivas

ProfessorModul University Dubai

Dr. Edith M Szivas, a British national, is a leading international expert in the area of Tourism and Hospitality with the track record in tourism strategy of over 25 years. Her involvement into a number of Governmental projects aimed at sustainable strategic development of the tourism industry across several countries in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. She is an author of numerous publications and also she is actively engaged into public speaking.

Keary Shandler

Adjunct Senior Lecturer

Keary Shandler

Adjunct Senior LecturerModul University Dubai

Keary leveraged career foundations in tourism, to then hold management roles across multiple industries including investment services, brand licensing and executive learning. In Dubai since 2002, she has successfully co-founded two businesses and provided guidance and support for many SMEs. Keary now taps into her strategic and operational know-how to help business school students discover sustainable practices that disrupt 'business as usual'. Keary holds an MBA and is now pursuing doctoral studies focused on building organisational resilience using important science.

Muhammad Tawalbeh

Assistant Professor

Muhammad Tawalbeh

Assistant ProfessorUniversity of Sharjah

Dr. Muhammad Tawalbeh is an assistant professor at the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering Department at the University of Sharjah. He completed his PhD from the University of Ottawa, ON, Canada in 2013. Dr. Tawalbeh research activities focus on renewable energy and sustainable environment applications. In particular, preparation and characterizations of membranes for fuel cells applications and carbon dioxide capture, development of a solar-powered membrane desalination processes, performance enhancement of solar thermal collectors and solar photovoltaic systems.

Wajeed Bagwan

General Manager

Wajeed Bagwan

General Manager

Over 25 years hospitality experience in India and the Middle East, specializing in setting up and launching new starred properties. Have worked with world renowned groups including the Taj Group of Hotels, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, The Leela Goup and Radisson Hotels & Resorts (Carlson Hotels Worldwide).

As a specialist in pre opening and operations; I have an excellent track record of efficiency, inclusive functioning and capacity building style of management. I have been accredited with the successful opening of award winning hotels in Dubai, UAE.

Hotels opened honored with 'Award of Excellence-2014’ by Booking.com, Best Smart Hotel Award-2015 at the prestigious Middle East Hotel Awards 2015, The Luxury Business Hotel of the year 2015 at the Luxury Travel Guide Awards 2015, Global Winner Best Luxury Boutique Hotel by World Luxury Hotel Awards–2015, Award of Excellence–2015 by Booking.com, Certified International Five Star Hotel by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars 2015-2016, Best Airport Hotel–Arabia, Best Airport Hotel–Dubai, Best Debut-Mid Market Hotel, Best Debut Hotel , etc.

Mr. Bagwan has also been shortlisted for the General Manager of the Year–2015 & 2017 along with Hotel Team of the year-2015 by Hozpitality Excellence Awards-MENA 2015.

Career Highlights:

Successfully opened 168 Keys high end luxury four star-Royal Continental Hotel along with pre opening plan/execution for a luxury hotel apartment in Business Bay Waterfront, Dubai, UAE.

Acclaimed recognition with awards such as “Best Restaurant- western cuisine” for Trattoria, Taj President, Mumbai”; “Frappe Life style Award” and the “Best 20 Restaurants-Asia, award by Miele Guide” for The Great Kebab Factory, Radisson Chennai besides various appreciations received for excellence in food and operations and nomination to FHRAI-Best Food & Beverage Manager Award.

Was the core team leader of Radisson Hotel Chennai and successfully achieved“ The Carlson's President Award“ for consecutive three years of 2006, 2007, 2008.

Conferred scholarship award by the Cornell University, Ithaca, NYC, USA for attendance to the General Manager’s Program-June 2010

Successfully completed the Bullet Proof Manager Series by Crestcom, USA and achieved the Six Sigma Green Belt certification.

Inducted as an "Assessor" and ' Team Leader' for Dubai Quality Award and Dubai Human Development Award by the Department of Economic Development, Government of Dubai, UAE.(2012-2017). Awarded with the recognition of leading a “Best Team’ for 2016 Assessment cycle.

She naturally drives performance to transform organizations and develop strong high-potential teams across the region.Recognized speaker and panel judge member across MEA.As the Director of Human Resources - GCC she is responsible for organization and human capital development, offering over 15 years of progressive experience.

Naila is the Diversity and Inclusion Champion leading D & I ambitious plans in GCC. She holds MSc in Psychology from Middle Sex University UK and CIPD Associate; and a Directorship Program Graduate from Hawkamah- Institute of Directors

Luis Escamilla

Dean

Luis Escamilla

DeanHult International Business School

Luis Escamilla is the Campus Dean at Hult’s Dubai campus. He first joined Hult International Business School in 2011 as Part-Time Professor of Quantitative Methods. Dean Luis has been the Dean of Hult at New York Rotation Center and Shanghai Campus Dean Luis work and consulting experience includes Procter & Gamble, Google, and INEGI. In 2010, Dean Luis and his team won Dubai’s 1st edition of the Hult Prize, the largest social entrepreneur competition in the world.

Eisa Bin Ahmad Alserkal

General Manager - Blue Services

Eisa Bin Ahmad Alserkal

General Manager - Blue ServicesBlue LLC

Eisa Bin Ahmad Alserkal is currently taking up his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the American University of Sharjah due to be completed by spring this year. Despite being busy with his studies, Eisa is up for the challenge, being a Board Member of Alserkal Group as well as the recently appointed General Manager of Blue Services, a division under Alserkal Group that offers environmental solutions. Currently, he is also the Art Ambassador of Alserkal Avenue.

Being in the early stage of his career, Eisa has been actively involved in the company’s regular operations to gain more hands-on experience, enhance his acquired knowledge and skills and be fully prepared for the future challenges ahead as part of the next generation that will propel the family business into greater heights of success.

Amr Banaja

Sr. VP Marketing & Corporate Responsibility

Amr Banaja

Sr. VP Marketing & Corporate ResponsibilitySEDCO Holding Group

Mr. Banaja joined SEDCO Holding in 2011, transferring over from SEDCO Development where he was the VP of Marketing. Prior to his experience with SEDCO companies, Mr. Banaja partnered with New York-based real estate service provider Seventh Art Group to launch its Dubai office. He has had a diverse career across sectors including real estate, financial services and consumer goods. He is a BA graduate from Boston College in the USA. He majored in Economics with a minor in Mathematics.

The Gulf Sustainability and CSR Awards 2016

were scored by Category Judging Panels comprising up to 5 of the Judges shown below.

Anas Almarie

Director of Training www.FocusSocialAcademy.com

Anas Almarie is an Executive and Founding Member of Arab Social & Digital Media Council, Co-Host of the weekly show #HRMEChat in affiliation with (SHRM) Society for Human Resources Management – MEA, Award Winning Entrepreneur by Dubai Internet City 2015, Founder of MENA Social Media Awards, TV guest speaker, Keynote speaker and a featured speaker at various conferences and trade shows across Middle East and Africa, Former Lecturer at University of Sharjah – Engineering School, active member at Social Media Club, Chair Judge at International Business Excellence Awards, Gulf Customers Experience Awards, he’s currently the Director of Training & Consultancy at Focus Social Academy in Dubai Media City. www.AnasAlmarie.com

Thomas Bosse

Head of ProgrammesDubai Carbon

Mr. Bosse, Head of Programmes at Dubai Carbon, manages the company’s business in the fields of energy, sustainability, green economy, and climate change. He has more than 10 years of international working experience as project/program manager and team leader in various areas of energy, environment, sustainability, green economy, and climate change. His primary focus areas are renewable/conventional energies, biomass and waste to energy, energy efficiency, and the demand side of energy.

Dr. Pablo Izquierdo

Senior Technical Manager Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence

Dr. Pablo Izquierdo has an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) on Environmental Technologies from the University of Surrey in UK. He also holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree on Applied Energy from Cranfield University in the UK. Pablo also has an Industrial Engineering degree from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Spain.

Currently Dr. Pablo is the Senior Technical Manager in Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence (DCCE) where he provides technical support, management and expertise on sustainability. His particulars areas of expertise are energy and waste management in buildings, Green House Gases (GHG) accounting, energy auditing and management and LEED certifications.

Ahlam Abdul Samad

Corporate Social Responsibility ManagerBee’ah

Ahlam Abdul Samad is the Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Bee’ah. Ahlam’s primary responsibilities at Bee’ah include creation and implementation of the company’s social responsibility objectives through education, awareness and rewards programmes targeted towards encouraging environmental best practices.

She is also responsible for establishing positive and proactive relationships with key institutions, organisations and government bodies to encourage, support and gain sponsorship for the programmes.

Fahad Khalaf

CEOTanmyah Consultancies and Training

HR Professional with over 15 years of experience with a proven track in many sectors in UAE. Extensive experience in working in Human Resources and demonstrated strong leadership, ownership and responsibility in achieving objectives. He has Developed, managed and supervised the Emiratisation, also have developed policies and directed and coordinated human resources activities, such as Recruitment, HR Business Partner, Training and Development. He believes in keeping employee engagement and motivating them to always keep the best practices to the organization.

Hashem Stietiya

Head of Environmental ConsultingBee’ah

Hashem Stietiya is the Head of Environmental Consulting at Bee’ah and is responsible for managing environmental consulting division, business strategy and business development within Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

As a PhD holder in Environmental Soil Remediation from Louisiana State University - USA, Mr. Hashem also holds a Masters in Environmental & Agri Resources for the University of Jordan. He also holds a professional certification in occupational health and safety (NEBOSH IGC).

Lama Zahreddine

Environment and Sustainability OfficerBee’ah

Lama Zahreddine is an Environment and Sustainability Officer at Bee’ah. Lama’s primary responsibilities are to develop and assist in the coordination, promotion and development of Bee’ah’s sustainability projects and policies.

Lama is also responsible for communicating plans, formulating budgets and marketing green strategies to internal and external stakeholders. Lama utilises her outstanding skills in strategic planning and relationship-building to monitor, evaluate, review and report on the performance of projects and lead the implementation of environmental policies and practices.

Sherry E. Mathew

Area Sales ManagerBee’ah

Mr. Sherry E. Mathew is the Area Sales Manager for the Waste Services industry at Bee’ah. In his career of more than 10 years he is active in B2B Sales & Marketing. At Bee’ah he is responsible for establishing and managing several key accounts within the UAE.

Also responsible for developing customer-focused solutions to generate business and plays a key role in developing and implementing strategy in Dubai’s Commercial Business.

Moez abd el Magid el Shohdi

CEOFood Banking Regional Network

Moez El Shohdi comes up with a blend of experience in hotel management and humanitarian professional voluntary work with a strong self-commitment to eradicate hunger in the region.

Rebekah Louise Marshall

Environmental ManagerDubai Airports

Rebekah is the Environmental Manager for Dubai Airports, with over 14 years’ experience in various sectors. Rebekah is accountable for providing leadership, direction, developing, delivering and maintaining the DA Environmental Corporate Framework & Programme, which involves developing policies, framework, associated actions plans, processes and continuous improvement. As part of Rebekah’s accountabilities, she led and delivered the Dubai Airports Carbon Baseline, which led to the successful independent verification to the Globally recognised ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation Programme.

Mohammad Jebreel

Mohammad Jebreel has more than 10 years of experience in leading sustainability strategy development and the execution of various sustainability projects. Authored and supported the delivery of over 35 sustainability reports, and chaired the Global Review Committee for the translation of the GRI G4 Guidelines.

Some of his clients:

UAE: ZADCO, UNB, FDF, DMA

Qatar: QP-HSEDG, Qatar Steel, Qatar Steel, WOQOD

KSA: NCB, KAEC, Zamzam Society

Jordan: JRF, Aramex

Several clients won sustainability -related awards.

Khulood A. Hindiyeh

Senior Sustainability Professional

With more than 10 years of experience in sustainability, Khulood holds a Master’s Degree in Corporate Social Responsibility from the University of Nottingham.

Khulood is a member at the Social Value International and in the process of being a certified practitioner in Social Return on Investment (SROI). For the past 7 years, she has established and managed the Sustainability Department at the Arab Bank-plc, she was responsible of establishing and managing the sustainability strategy, writing GRI-based sustainability reports, and holding trainings and workshops.

Ahmad Al-Hidiq

Managing DirectorWebMisc.

A passionate tech-thusiast thats been consulting, innovating and developing solutions for over 12 years. Ahmad is the Managing Director of WebMisc. a Digital Marketing Agency and Co-Founder of HeyDoc! a global telemedicine platform. He is a Holder of a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and equipped with experience across a variety of roles, spanning business development and technical consultancy. These roles involved architecting enterprise solutions and executing effective and creative online marketing strategies across the digital realm.

Salah Al-Hidiq

Managing DirectorNOCC.

Salah has over 20 years of experience, setting up his first company at the age of 15 which grew to be one of the leading Systems Integrators in Lebanon. Entrepreneur and visionary, always seeking challenging ideas, projects and opportunities where I can implement the expertise I have built up, and gain more new ones.

Sarah Al Qabandi

CSR & Sponsorships ManagerOoredoo

Sarah Al-Qabandi worked on establishing the newly-established corporate social responsibility department in Ooredoo Kuwait in 2014. Ever since then, she has contributed to shaping the policy of the company, the annual activities agenda, in addition to establishing the award-winning Ooredoo Volunteer Program in 2015. The program attracted hundreds of Kuwaiti youth throughout the two years of its establishment, linking them with volunteering opportunities and organizations, and won the recognition of Kuwait’s Ministry of State for Youth Award.

Saleh Azzam Alsalem

Founder & Principle ConsultantSNA Energy Advisory

A certified consultant and management professional, with 25 years of exceptional experience in driving business growth through strategic planning and extensive business development and consultation. I worked and held key managerial positions in leading Saudi and international companies before establishing my own advisory firm “SNA Energy”. SNA Energy is providing business strategy, technical and economic consulting services in oil & gas, chemical and energy for local businesses and key government entities in Saudi Arabia and GCC countries.

Nigel Owen

Freelance

Nigel Owen is one of the UAE’s most experienced communications professionals. He’s led PR teams at one of the World’s largest banks (RBS) and more recently provided communications strategy for du in the UAE. Digital has been at the heart of Nigel’s communication approach, whether helping tech startups launch, or supporting Digital divisions and Smart City teams at major brands.

Naveed Kashif

Director Corporate ServicesBiznet Consulting

Kashif is a dynamic, results-driven leader with years of progressive experience leveraging management consulting skills with legal acumen to drive business growth, protect assets and, assure legal compliance. He is currently working as Director Corporate Services with Biznet Consulting advising Entrepreneurs, Corporates and Business Owners on Company Formation and Business Setups in UAE.

His is also an active Council Member of GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group) and successfully incorporated many local and MNC’s in UAE. His expertise and knowledge includes; structuring of legal entities and help foreign companies to setup branches and investment companies in UAE.

Issa Baluch

Issa Baluch is a 40-year logistics veteran, author, and philanthropist. He serves as Chairman of African Agribusiness Knowledge and Innovation Leadership Initiative (AKILI), a non-profit research and training initiative based in Cambridge, Massachusetts designed to inspire and empower African agribusiness professionals to apply global best practices in agribusiness, conservation, and economic development, into workable, achievable steps toward social, environmental and economic sustainability. Baluch is a Senior Fellow and Associate of Science, Technology, and Globalization at Harvard Kennedy School.

Rami Shaath

Clean Technology Evangelist

With just under 20 years of IT business-technology experience, Rami Shaath is a seasoned, accomplished professional with diverse background and talents spanning in technical, service delivery, and business-development disciplines in various roles and project lead across North America, Europe and the UAE. He shifted his focus and passion towards responding to cyber security incidents and digital forensics investigations including malware research, threat hunting 7 years ago thriving on anything that runs on 1s and 0s. Passionate about clean technology, Rami continues to search for innovative ways to help ensure a better world ahead for his little daughter.

Sveccha Kumar

Manager, Corporate SustainabilityDu

Sveccha is has over 8 years of experience in various sustainability related roles across global and regional organisations.

In her current role, Sveccha is responsible for the delivery of du’s overall sustainability programme, including strategic advisory to stakeholders, delivery of key community engagement initiatives and handling the company’s sustainability communications and advocacy portfolio.

Outside of work, Sveccha is very involved in volunteer work, including serving on the Board of e7 - Daughters of the Emirates, a women’s empowerment initiative based in the UAE.

Loubna AlHaddad

Environmental Consultant

Loubna Al Haddad is a member of the Royal Society of Biology with extensive experience in Sustainable Development, Natural Resource Management, Environmental Impact Assessment, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Compliance & Policy.

Loubna is a Registered EMS Lead Auditor (IRCA), and has led and participated in remarkable projects on greenhouse gas emission reduction and Green Business practices implementation. She has designed and coordinated environmental awareness-raising events across employees and stakeholders, and delivered with her experience successful Behaviour Modification Campaigns.

Brad Boyson

Executive DirectorSHRM

Prior to becoming Executive Director for SHRM MEA Dubai, Brad Boyson spent 15 years holding senior HR roles in globally diverse organizations including Mitsubishi Corporation (Tokyo), Royal Caribbean International (Miami) and most recently, Hamptons/Emaar (Dubai). A globalist by nature, Mr. Boyson has practiced embedded HR on every inhabited continent and has first-hand HR experience in almost every major industrial sector. He holds three business degrees, six active professional HR certifications, is a published author (Global HR Economics), frequent international keynote speaker and board member on UAE government & UAE university HR advisory committees.

Dr. Sawsan A. S. Al Madhi

Director GeneralFriends of Cancer Patients UAE

Dr. Sawsan A. S. Al Madhi, Director General for Friends of Cancer Patients UAE, has more than 14 years’ progressive leadership skills and experience. Having medical, nonprofit and international expertise, Dr. AlMadhi strives to achieve excellence, sustainability, and attain results in health focused non-profit sector and the public health education & promotion within UAE and internationally. Dr. AlMadhi is also a renowned public speaker in many areas including the future of non- profit, CSR and sustainability, gender balance, women and leadership.

Brijesh Dhruve

Brijesh Dhruve has Chemical Engineering degree with an MBA in Environment Management & PG Diploma in Sustainable Development. He is certified Energy Auditor from Government of India with other credentials like Lead Auditor in ISO 14001 & ISO 9001.

Currently, Brijesh is the Group Chief Environment Officer with Emirates National Oil Company Limited (ENOC) LLC where he provides expertise on Environment Management to diversified business. Main areas of his expertise are developing Environmental strategies, reviewing EIAs, Site Environmental Audits, etc.

Ismail Al Hammadi

Managing DirectoAl Ruwad Real Estate

Ismail Al Hammadi is an expert real estate professional. He is founder and Managing Director of Al Ruwad Real Estate and Biznet Consulting. Before starting his journey as an entrepreneur, he served as Executive director (Business Development) in TECOM, Sales Director in TECOM investments, Manager Government Relations in Dubai Industrial City and Senior Coordinator in Department of Economic Development Dubai.

His versatile experience enables him to provide appropriate consultancy to real estate investors and streamlined solutions for startups. The entrepreneur and resourcefulness in Mr. Hammadi helps organization to create profitable changes through unconventional and futuristic thinking using nimble and advance technology cutting down unwanted time constraints and road blocks. His venture and synergy till date have complimented hundreds of campaigns, non-profits, legal boards and brands.

Ben CD Long

PartnerModular & Mobile Solutions

While most rely on Governments and NGOs to provide assistance during times of international disaster, Ben and his partners design, conceptualise and deliver humanitarian projects that have a direct positive impact on beneficiaries.

Having established a food security program in India, Ben moved to UAE to establish Modular & Mobile Solutions at International Humanitarian City, Dubai. During that time they have designed and built 7 purpose-built modular communities that include schools, health care and community facilities for the people of Syria. They have also built 2 mobile bakeries that to date have provided 40+ million meals for those in need on the Turkish Syrian border.

Badia Belghiti

Human Resource DirectorDeloitte & Touche ME

Badia is an HR Director at Deloitte & Touche ME — one of the world’s largest professional services organizations.
Badia is a Human Resource Executive with more than 20 years of experience leading HR for global organizations. She has extensive experience developing people strategies that support business goals and building the HR function into a value-added, true business partner. Prior to joining Deloitte, Badia has been working with several large Multionationals from Financial Service to Manufacturing Organizations, as the HR department head in the Middle East and Africa regions.

Abdul Hai Alami

Associate ProfessorUniversity of Sharjah

Currently an Associate Professor at the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering Program at University of Sharjah, Dr Alami has received his PhD from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada in 2006. Since then, he had held the position of Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Hashemite University in Jordan, till he moved to the UAE in 2010 where he worked as a Mechanical Engineering Faculty at the Higher Colleges of Technology, Al Ain.

Sarah Johnsen

Independent Researcher

A research partner for the EMES Research Network, Sarah Johnsen is conducting research and consultancy assignments on social entrepreneurship, as a solution to the socio-economic development imperatives in the UAE. She is also a reviewer for the Social Enterprise Journal. An accomplished educator, Sarah enjoys designing courses and training programs in Norway, the Gambia, and the UAE, including 4 years in IBO schools. She holds a BA in Community and Health Psychology, and a Master degree in Development Studies (Cum Laude).